Acting Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Chris Abruzzo told DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council Tuesday changes are underway at DEP to improve public participation in agency decision making as a result of recommendations made by the Council and others inside and outside the department.

Included in those changes is an overhaul of DEP’s website to gather all information on how the public can participate in the agency’s development of regulations, technical guidance and in permitting in one location, a better guide to public participation tools the citizens can use and using plain language to describe regulation and policy changes.

He invited the Council to look over his proposed plans saying he hoped to roll out the new website changes in October.  The Council’s Public Participation Committee volunteered to review the changes.

Acting Secretary Abruzzo also highlighted two other initiatives during his remarks to Council-- updating the Chapter 78 drilling regulations and the agency’s Community Environmental Project Policy.

He said DEP would not rush public comment on the proposed changes to Chapter 78 the Environmental Quality Board adopted for public comment in August, even though the law the changes are based on (Act 13) was passed 18 months ago.  DEP will be scheduling six public hearings at regionally-appropriate locations throughout the state during a 60 day public comment period.

He also noted DEP is revising its Community Environmental Project Policy under which the agency will, in some circumstances, accept the funding of worthwhile local, environmental projects in lieu of penalties paid to the state.

The initial draft of the policy changes have been shared with DEP’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board and the CAC for review, but have not yet been circulated for general public comment.

Acting Secretary Abruzzo noted a recent controversy over releasing a Penn State climate change report in the press will be addressed shortly when the agency releases the complete report without any deletions.  He said he didn’t know why the report was held up before he assumed the role of Acting Secretary.

Environmental Justice-CAC Discussion

The Council also held a first-ever joint meeting with DEP’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board to discuss how the two advisory bodies could work together on public participation and other issues.

During the first part of the meeting, the groups heard a presentation from Dr. Hector Ortiz, Director of the Department of Health’s Office of Health Equity, and Dr. James Logue, Director of the Division of Environmental Health Epidemiology who provided an overview of their programs.

Several questions to the presenters involved the health aspects of Marcellus Shale drilling.

Dr. Logue said his Division has been involved in individual consultations with doctors and citizens on health issues involved in drilling and fracking, but has not done any specific epidemiological studies on the issue.  He said the dozen or so staff he has in this office does not have the funding to do much more than that.

Both presenters were asked about whether the Department of Health was developing any policy on provisions in the Act 13 drilling law related to the disclosure of fracking fluid constituents to physicians, noting the issue has been controversial.  They said they have not been personally involved, but others in the agency have been discussing the issue with a number of groups.

Dr. Arthur Frank, a member of the Environmental Justice Board and an occupational health physician, said sharing of trade secret information with physicians is handled routinely in his field by doctors.  He noted the controversy may have developed because doctors who do not routinely work in the occupational health area may not be familiar with these procedures.

Rev. Horace Strand, a member of the Environmental Justice Board and a representative of the Chester Environmental Partnership in Delaware County, made the Council aware there were significant concerns over the fact Gov. Corbett did not reappoint Gail Conner to the Citizens Advisory Council, the only African American on the Council.  He noted he recognized the Council has no control over who is appointed to the group.

Council Chair Terry Dayton reiterated the fact the Council does not have the ability to influence or control appointments to the group.  It was also noted there are three different appointing authorities for the Council-- the Governor, the House and the Senate-- which independently name members and it was very difficult to coordinate between these authorities to achieve diversity.

Presently the Governor has two vacancies to fill on the Council and the Senate and House each have one.  Current members can serve until they are replaced.

Holly Cairns, Acting Director of Office of Environmental Advocate, gave the Board and Council, a brief overview of the draft Community Environmental Project Policy revisions, but said she expects to be able to share a revised draft with the groups in the near future.

Public Comments

During the Council’s public comments portion of the meeting, Roberta Winters, PA League of Women Voters, said she applauded recent changes to DEP’s website which put public participation information front and center on the agency’s homepage.

She also raised several questions about the proposed revisions to Chapter 78 drilling regulations, including whether the results of the STRONGER evaluation of the agency’s regulatory program would come in time to be included in the final changes.

Committee Reports

The Council heard reports from several of its committees--

-- Legislative Committee: John Walliser lead a discussion of House Bill 1576 (Pyle-R- Armstrong) which fundamentally changes the way threatened and endangered species are listed and changes the designation process for wild trout streams.  Council agree to invite a panel of speakers from the involved agencies to its October meeting to hear explanations of how threatened and endangered and rare and species of concern are treated in DEP’s permit process.

-- Policy & Regulatory Oversight Committee: Nancy Perkins said the committee recommended and the Council approved a motion for DEP to go ahead with a final regulation change involving the printing, adhesives, sealants and solvents industries.

-- Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board: Burt Waite provided the Council with an update on proposed changes to the Chapter 78 drilling regulations, including the cancellation of the planned September 18-19 meetings and outlined the public comment plans for the package-- 60 day comment period and six public hearings.

-- Environmental Quality Board: Walt Heine reported the Environmental Quality Board earlier in the day approved final regulations increasing the Title V Air Quality emission fees.

-- Public Participation Committee: As earlier noted, the Committee plans to review changes Acting Secretary Abruzzo outlined to improve public participation in the agency.   It was also noted the comment period on DEP’s proposed changes to the permit review public participation policy closed on August 27.  DEP has not yet formally proposed changes to its public participation policy for developing regulations and guidance or for the review of environmental justice concerns.  In January DEP indicated it hoped to have proposals out for public review this year.

The next meeting of the DEP Citizens Advisory Council is October 15 in Room 105 Rachel Carson Building, Harrisburg, starting at 11:00.  Presentations and other information from Tuesday’s meeting will be posted on the Council webpage.

9/23/2013